.eu domain names and Brexit – latest news

EU domains are handled by EURid (headquartered in Belgium), on behalf of the EU. In 2018, the EU said they wanted anyone in the UK who’d registered a .eu domain to hand it back – The Register claimed there were about 300,000 such domains.

Scenario 1 is the ‘leaving without a deal’ scenario (with two months allowed to update your registration details to a postal address in the EU27 or EEA).

Scenario 2 is leaving at the end of the planned transitional period (e.g. Dec 2020)

As of May 2019:

all plans are suspended (i.e. UK citizens/companies can register .eu domains as normal), because Article 50 has been extended until 31 October.

There’s also a new regulation to allow all EU citizens to register .eu domains regardless of where they are living in the world. EURid told me this would become effective later in the year, “possibly October”.

All this will also apply to Gibraltar (GI).

This means, provided your organisation has an EU citizen, it will be fine to register a domain in the UK. But you’ll need that person to be the registrant for as long as you renew it.

Unclear yet what proof of citizenship will be required. I wouldn’t expect it to prevent you from using WHOIS privacy services.

How much do .eu domains cost, anyway?

$15/year to register and renew on Hover.com (they will give you free WHOIS privacy, for individuals only)
£5.99 to register (50% sale price) and £11.99 to renew on 123-reg